


pick me up, hold me close

by campaignmug18



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Cuddling, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, IT'S SO FLUFFY, Just self indulgence, Pre-Relationship, Season 2, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 00:23:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14705622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/campaignmug18/pseuds/campaignmug18
Summary: Responding to a tumblr prompt somebody received: "when did Person A first call Person B their preferred term of affection?". Pre-relationship casework with implied getting together. Disclaimer: I wrote this while severely sleep-deprived and didn't read over it thoroughly. Set in the second half of season 2.





	pick me up, hold me close

**Author's Note:**

> okay so I don't normally write fic but I was very exhausted and needed some self-indulgent fluff. This literally makes no sense and the writing is probably egregious, it was 4 AM. It's literally just fluff. The title is from the Tori Kelly song, Dear No One.

Amy’s apartment was warm. Warm. That was Jake’s first impression as he stepped into the dark residence. His eyelids drooped with exhaustion and he winced as Amy flipped the lights on. 

Over the course of several years of partnership, of course, he had spent a relatively significant amount of time at Santiago’s apartment, even beyond Thanksgivings and birthday parties. This wasn’t the first time the two partners had stumbled in late at night after working a case. He had even crashed on her couch after a night of heavy drinking with the squad. However, as he dumped his bag on the ground and placed his phone on the counter, anticipation seemed to run up his spine like electricity. 

Jake had no reason to be alert whatsoever.  _ None, _ he told himself. It had been months since he confessed his feelings the first time. So much crap had gone down after that. He had gone undercover, she had dated and broken up with Teddy, he had dated Sophia. He shouldn’t have been acutely aware that this was the first time he would crash at her place since he went undercover with the FBI. 

The reminder kept ringing at the back of his brain, though, as Amy shuffled behind him to grab something from one of her many overstuffed closets. His eyes were slow and lagging, barely following her from the couch as she pulled out more pillows and blankets than anybody should ever own. Her dark hair had fallen out of the bun she had placed it in around three. Even she blinked rapidly with fatigue, struggling to stay awake. The case file was discarded on the coffee table.

It was funny, Jake decided, how her nose wrinkled when she was temporarily confused. She would open closet doors and forget what she was looking for and her nose would scrunch up. It oddly reminded him of some sort of rabbit. He made a mental note to find some way to tease her about that.

When her arms were full of assorted colorful covers and cushions, Amy returned to the couch, placing the soft pile on the ground in front of them. Jake tore his eyes away from her face as she leaned across him to grab the file. When she leaned back, her back brushed against his arm and his stomach…  _ fluttered  _ in a way that Jake was certain it shouldn’t. He bit his lip hard, trying to wake himself up. 

“Robson and Richmond both have alibis and Carraway-” Amy muttered loud enough for him to hear, shaking him out of his thoughts. Her statement was blunt, it was a fact they had established nearly eleven hours before. His mind was blank, empty as he tried to dissect what she had said.

“I dunno,” the words spilled out of his mouth. He couldn’t process his words at this point, they were just meaningless syllables he could say. He pressed his head into her shoulder and shut his eyes for a brief,  _ brief _ moment. 

“Jake!” Amy cried, her tone severe and scolding. “We’re so close… I wanna solve it before Major Crimes gets it.”

“Sorry, sorry,” he murmured as he lifted his head. “It’s your fault. What human owns so many blankets?”

“I get cold,” Amy pouted defensively, pulling one quilt to her chin. Her nose did the scrunch thing again and her dark eyebrows were pulled together and despite being watery from fatigue, her eyes were doe-like and sparkling brown. Jake chuckled as he grabbed the corner of the blanket.

“Aw, that’s so cute. You’re like a little, cold rabbit.”

“ _ Come on _ , we need to focus. If we solve it, then we can  _ sleep, _ ” Amy reminded, her tone chiding and light. 

“Sleep,” Jake sighed. “Come on, Santiago. We can do this.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and reclined his head against her one last time. The dim surroundings of her apartment seemed to fade into oblivion. Amy’s shoulder was so warm and her hand was so gentle as it stroked his upper arm encouragingly.  _ Normal partners do this,  _ he told himself.  _ Even partners who once told the other that they had romantic feelings for them.  _ Visualizing the “normal” partners he knew, he shuddered at the image of Hitchcock and Scully maybe, accidentally cuddling on the other’s couch at 5:30 in the morning. 

“Jake,” Amy groaned, pushing his heavy head off of her. “Don’t fall asleep on me,”

“Sorry, babe,” he seemed to say, still gripping her shoulders as his head slid into her lap. He felt her upper body freeze at the name. He had used worse names before, definitely(he had vivid memories of “fart monster” and the mocking “darling” from their fake date), but this title was more genuine, despite his overwhelming fatigue. Maybe it was a mistake, he thought, but his heart was doing those weird palpitation things it sometimes did around her and she smelled so nice and her arm was so soft and she had looked so beautiful only moments before, despite her red-rimmed eyes and ruffled hair. He sunk deeper into blackness.

When he woke up, light streamed into the apartment and the clock on the TV console read 7:09. Amy was already up, her hair still messy, wildly murmuring something Carraway’s store being closed on the night of the homicide. “I solved it,” she said several times, though it seemed like she was convincing herself that it had actually happened rather than bragging. 

Her dark doe eyes rolled back in her head as she excitedly explained how she had come to the conclusion with a grin plastered on her face.  _ Such a nerd,  _ a voice in his head sung.  _ Such an adorable, pretty nerd _ .

He planted his feet on her cold floor and walked over to the kitchen table. Purely on instinct, he pressed a quick kiss to the crown of her head. “Great job, babe,” he murmured. “Now sleep.”

Quickly, they collapsed on the couch, his arms wrapped around her waist as they became practically comatose. 

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr: queenofdebate


End file.
